Planting a Rainbow Bulletin Board

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Students will learn that flowers come in many colors and shapes.

OBJECTIVE

Students will:

1. Paint and label one giant flower to go up on the bulletin board entitled, "Planting a Rainbow."
2. Practice tracking when labels are read.
3. Learn about petals, leaves, stems, and flower centers.

MATERIALS

1. Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
2. White paper 18" X 24"
3. Tempera paint, all colors
4. Paintbrushes
5. Black and multi color markers
6. Sentence strip roll

SET UP AND PREPARE

Prepare for painting: Ready easels, fill paint pots with many colors, add one paintbrush to each pot, and get out the painting shirts. (At the beginning of the school year I ask parents to send to school any extra mens, old, short-sleeve shirts for use in our Painting Center. Students put their arms in the shirt so that the shirt back covers the front of their body. Students can put these on themselves as no buttoning is needed.)

DIRECTIONS

Step 1: Read the story, Planting A Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert

Step 2: Discuss the different types of flowers. Compare and contrast the flowers in the story by color, size, and leaf shape.

Step 3: Have each child paint a giant flower. (Not everyone can paint at once. This can be a Center Rotation activity or a "Paint and Fetch" activity. When children come to the painting area, they cross out their own name that is posted on a list in the Center. After they have painted, they "fetch" the next child on the list. This same technique can be used for providing computer time for each child.)

Step 4: Cut out each student's flower when it's dry. Have children label the flower color on a sentence strip using the appropriate color marker to write the color word and the black marker to write the word "flower." (Example: For a red flower, red is written in red marker and flower is written in black.)

Step 5: Post flowers and labels on the Painting-a-Rainbow bulletin board.

LESSON EXTENSION

1. Interactive: Have students write about how many of each color flower they see. (Example: "I see two red flowers.") Display the students writing samples around the "Planting-A-Rainbow" bulletin board.
2. Science: Give each child a white carnation. Have each child select a vase with food coloring to put it in. (Have several vases with different colors such as red, yellow, blue, green, purple, and blue.) Keep a class log and write a daily entry to note changes.
3. Movement: Each student pretends he/she is a flower growing from a seed. Emphasize what one needs to grow (water, sun, soil).

ASSESS STUDENTS

1. Can students paint the parts of a flower?
2. Can students label their flower color with markers?
3. Can students track and read the labels on the bulletin board?

ASSIGNMENTS
Have students bring in their favorite flower.

EVALUATE THE LESSON

1. Were students able to work independently while painting their flowers?
2. Did students have difficulty with the concept of a "giant" flower?
3. Were they ready for a choice of colors?

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